Bismarck Tribune

Compiled by LAUCompiled by LAUREN DONOVAN

Brad Wilson may have lost a close election for the Garrison School Board, but he's staying anyway.

He lost by seven votes to Michelle Kallberg and was all set to call it a term.

Then, at the last school board meeting, another board member, Troy Hummel, resigned.

Hummel's only been on a year, and he said he was resigning for personal, not school, reasons.

The board quickly decided that it made sense to ask Wilson, who has experience and interest in board matters, to fill out Hummel's term.

He took the board up on its offer and, really, why wouldn't he?

At the same meeting, school Superintendent Steve Brannan passed out party poppers to celebrate ending the school year with a big-time ending balance.

Brannan said when the dust settled on the books from the 2005-06 school year, the outstanding balance was $564,000.

"That bottom line … is higher than I could have imagined," Brannon said.

He said the fiscal situation means the school district can make improvements, including to a science laboratory and classroom and the elementary playground.

The ending balance, as it's called, is about $100,000 less than the all-time high, and much more than the decade low of $34,000 in 1996.

- McLean County Independent

All rolled up

A group of Hazen Girl Scouts is pretty sweet on Senior Suites, a retirement center attached to the hospital in Hazen.

The six members of Troop 4422 are working toward a silver award, the second highest in Girl Scouting.

Over the past months, they've sung carols, played games like bingo and just generally made friends with the residents.

After becoming familiar with Senior Suites, the girls decided to raise money to help make the place a little homier, with pictures and decorations for the home's common area.

They decided to take to the streets Thursday during Hazen's Crazy Days and sell what they're calling "Sweets for Suites."

The sweets will actually be 300 almost-all-from-scratch caramel rolls, an easy, secret recipe that they say will make the biggest, best and tastiest rolls ever and all for only $3 each.

It wasn't hard for the Scouts to agree on a project. They've been friends since, like, forever, and participate together in basketball, track, volleyball and softball.

The troop earned a bronze award in 2004 after painting benches and doing regular cleanup at the Hazen softball complex.

The Scouts are Kristen and Kelsey Jacobson, Molly Fritel, Andrea Dacar, Carly Christian and TiAnna Stevens.

Look for them in the area between the IBEW office and Sue's Cafe.

- The Hazen Star

Hiring retired

A plan to hire retired Crosby school Superintendent Don Nielsen on a part-time basis will be aired at a public meeting at 7 p.m. Aug. 1 in the elementary school.

It appears some people in the area aren't entirely satisfied with the decision, partly because the board has never advertised an opening.

A board member who's leaving the board said school boards are prohibited from discussing a part-time position with a retiring superintendent until 30 days after the position is formally vacated.

School board president Arden Eide said the school board has been talking for two years about bringing Nielsen on part-time after his retirement this year.

He said Nielsen had been part-time anyway, in the context that he was also serving as elementary principal.

The board recently hired an elementary principal and recognized that that opened the way toward bringing back Nielsen part-time in his old job.

However, some at a recent board meeting said they wanted to give the concept more consideration.

Aaron Jacobson, a resident, wanted to know how the board's finance committee could already be working on pay package for Nielsen when the action's never been officially directed by the board.

High school English teacher Betty Dhuyvetter asked the board to let the community have a say on rehiring Nielsen.

"I think people are afraid to say what they really feel," she said, because they're worried about repercussions to their children, business or job.

High school Principal Lee Lampert said people have been heard.

"You put nine people on a board. That is your community input," Lampert said. "We've got the board, we've got the people in place. Let them make the decisions."

- The Journal